Storage battery



June 8 1926.

N. HARRISON STORAGE BATTERY Filed Feb. '14, 192

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS N. HAR'RiSON STORAGE BATTERY june Si 1926.

Filed 'Feb. 14, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 an fl 7 N Patna-a June 8,1926.

nnw ron mnnrson, or urn-01m, CONNECTICUT;

' STORAGE BATTERY- Application med. February 14, 1923. Serial No.618,804.

This invention relates to secondary or storage batteries and cells, andhas for an object to maybe charged in a minimum 5 of time ordischargedunder maximum load a lon without injury.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a more eflicint batteryor cell and one that will have an unusual capacity and life.

It is another object of the invention to provide a storage batterystructure by which the active material may be subdivided to an possiblesurface to the electrolyte.

It is a further object of the, invention to produce a, storage batterycell which will have the greatest possible practicable exposure ofactive material to electrolyte per unit of Weight of this activematerial.

It is still another object of the invention to produce a battery cellwhiclrwill have a much greater capacity for a given weight than can besecured with the batteries now generally employed, or to secure abattery of the same capacity of those now generally used but which willmuch lighter in weight.

Another object of the invention is. to produce a storage cell of greatlyreduced internal resistance.

A still further object of the invention is to provide supports for theactive materialwhich will sustain the same in such a man-.

nor that it will not only be exposed to the electrolyte to the maximumextent but also so that it will not easily become loosened from thesupports and thus be useless in operation, and therefore, the capacityof the batter will not be reduced or the active material wasted.

To secure the above mentioned results I f utilize in my battery cell arelatively large number of small thin plates for supporting the activematerial, and I arrange these plates in a multipleunit system. That iseach cell of the battery comprises a multiplicity of localizedelectrical units, each unit singa com lete electrical entity in itselfcons sting o a plurality of positive and negative plates, with aconductor connected to alt the positiveplates of the unit and,

extremedegree so as to expose the greatest another conductor connectedto all the negative plates of the unit. As these plates may be madesmall in size and thin the greatest possible racticable number of unitscan be employed and thus the active material may be subdivided to thegreatest degree practicable so as to expose the greatest possiblesurface of a given weight of active material to the electrolyte. Thiswill ive a greater power -of rapld chargin and discharging than everbefore attain y In practice a unit of this multiple unit cell willconsistof a large number of these plates preferably substantiallyhorizontally arranged one above the other in alternation and separatedfrom each other by a thin porous se arator, and an ordinary cell wouldconsist o a large number of these units and in the cell each unit isconnected to its neighbor in such a manner that each unit prov duces itsfull quota of electricity on being,

discharged or takes its full quota of electricity on being char ed.

Theoretically the est results would be secured by using a. layer ofactive material as nearly of infinitesimal thickness as possible andpassing through this a normal cur- 'rent er unit of area, in which eventwe would get a maximum charge in a minimum of time and a maximum dischare in a minimum of time without any a normal conditions obtaining becauseall of the active material would be exposed to the electrolyte. In factif the active material presented a thin film to the electrolyte,theoretically a current of hundreds or thousands of amperes applied fora few minutes or less would reduce it to a fit condition for servicewithout any abnormal current flow per unit of area. Also on the otherhand the same enormous surface of a thin layer of active material wouldsupply an enormous current on discharge without an abnormal flow perunit of area. My invention is directed to getting as nearly as possibleto this heoretical condition in a practical cons motion.

It'is a question largely of having a thin but appropriate grid in abattery of this kind to expose the active material to as great a surfaceas possible.

By carrylng out. this rinciple a cell can be practically built whi iscapable of being charged or discharged in three hours, two hours, onehour, one-half hour, or .uch number of minutes as express the finalimitation of the proportions of surface exposed to thickness of activematerial.

My system of subdivision of the active material in this multiple unitcell will allow an increase i the charging and discharging rates Withoicreasing the (.i l'l'fini', density per unit 01 surface of activematerial, and with the same density of current per unit of surface ofactive material I may charge or discharge the battery in a muchshortertime Without injury, as for a given weight of activemateriall obtain amaximum surface exposed to the electrolyte with a minimum of thickness,therefore using the entire amount of active material, none of it beingwasted. It is impossible to do this in all modern structuresof storagebatteries. In such cells the process of boosting or heavy abnormaldischarge increases the current density per unit of area of the surfaceof active material exposed to the electrolyte above the current densitythis material can handle with safety;

This exposes the plates to stresses and strains and causes loosening anddislodgment of active material due to the excessive expansion andcontraction caused by this boosting. This is not true in my cell as aheavy charging or discharging current may be used without increasing thecurrent density per unit of surface area of the active material abovethe normal rate. To "further obviate this difi'iculty I place the platessubstantially horizontally and separate them by porous Wooden separatorswhich assist in retaining the active material in the plates. I mav also,if desired; incline the plates somewhat to assist in freeing theirsurfaces of as bubbles and thus preventing polarization. but as with myconstruction of batterv cell the current density per unit oi s rtace'oiactive material ex osed to the electrolyte is never abnormal. there isnever abnormal polarization. and. with normal charging and dischargingcurrents the polarization is decreased because with these ratesof'charge and discharge the current density per unit of surface ofactive mate rial is so smallwthat it will not produce polarization.

Another advantage I secure by this multinle unit cell is reducedresistance in the cell as the exposed surface of the active material isincreased. Thusthere would be no increase of current density per unit ofcross sectional area of electrolyte with the increased charging! anddischarginc' amperage employed, and so there would he no heating withthese increased amneragzes above thatcf ordinary practice in the cellsnovv in use. On the other hand. the exposed surface of active materialis very great in this multiple unit cellf Therefore the ordinarydischarge of the present commercial storage-cell if used in my cellwould mean. a much less density of current per unit ofarea. As a resultthe current density per unit of cross sectional area of the electrolyteis very small, so consequently there is less resistance. less heating,less heat losses and a greater etlicicncy than in the ordinary cells.

The theoretical weight of active material required for an'ampere hourfor a negative plate is approximately .140 of an ounce. On this basisabout seven ampere hours may be expected from an ounce of activematerial theoretically. From this point of view a pound of activematerial consisting of sixteen ounces is theoretically able to supplyabout 112 ampere hours on the basis given. For quick discharges this isimpossible in ordinary practice because of the limited surface exposedto the electrolyte necessary through the thickness of the supporting,grid. If it is not so necessary to have a thick supporting grid, a givenWeight of active material can present a much greater surface to theelectrolyte and, therefore, can much more easily handle a heavydischarging current.

In fact. it the active formedtmaterial presented a thin film totheelectrolyte, theoretically a current of hundreds or thousands ofamperes applied fora few. minutes or less would reduce it to a litcondition for serv-- ice. On the other hand the same enormous surface ofa thin layer of active material would supply an enormous current/on discharge. It is a question largclyof having;

a large number of thin but appropriate.

grids duplicated a great many timesin a battery of this kind to exposethe. active material to as great a surface as possible.

From the results secured in practice about .04 of an ampere per squareinch of surface of active material exposed on the positive plate to theelectrolyte is considered satisfactory in discharging. It is a logicalconclusion from this that my system of subdivision of the activematerial will not intcrfere with modern practice, but will allow the useof much heavier charging and discharging rates Without going beyond whatis considered good practice. greater the area or active material exposedto the electrolyte per unit of Weight of this active material thegreater may be the current used in charging and discharging withoutincreasing the normal current density per unit of exposed surface, andtherefore, the'shorter will bethe time required. Thus, for example, itthe surface of active material exposed to the electrolyte be dou bled Imay double the total charging or discharging i current withoutincreasing the current density per unit of area of surface Thus thestructiomwhile the small of an inch or less.

exposed to the electrolyte and will cut the time for charging in half,or in proportion to the increase in exposed surface.

Another important result secured with my multiple unit battery cell isthat the plates are much stronger in proportion to the area exposed thanthe large plates now generally employed. The large plates are made asthin as possible in an attempt to increase the exposed surface and sothey are relatively thin in proportion to their area and are thus of acomparatively weak com plates which-I use,

although thin, are relatively thick in proportion to their -area, and soare correa spondingly stron er. In my invention plates 0 a sixtcent ofanmch in thickness or less can be employed, yet each individual plate incomparison with its area, will be strong and rugged in contrast with therelatively weak construction in comparison with surface and thickness,and 'thus the wei ht, of the lar e plates now in daily use. Iurthermore, the large plates now generally used, although made as thinas racticable, must be made of considerable tick- "ness in order tosupport, their weight and .the weight of" the active'material, and itwill, therefore, be apparent that theselarge plates occupy a great dealof space within the battery cell which is useless for current generatingand absorbing purposes. This is because the depth to which theelectrolyte reacts with the active ma rial is very small, very seldommore than one thirty second of an inch and usually, less than that. Byusing individual plates of sma l area, as in my cell, they may be madeof a thickness of one sixteenth of an inch or less. thus leaving onethirty second according to thickness of plate used. of active materialto be acted upon by the electrolvte from each side of the plate. Thus itwill, be seen that in cells constructed of these small plates there is aminimum of space which is useless for generating and absorbing purposes.

This application is,a continuation import of my prior application;Serial No. 569,490 for storage battery. filed June 19, 1922.

In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is a sectional plan view 'ofonearrange'ment of cell taken substantially on line l l of Fig. 3.

Fig-2 is a top plan view of the cell show ing one methodfof making theconnections 'for leading the current from and to the cell.

. stantial lvupon line 4-4 pf F ig.

Fig. 5 is -a partial transverse section substantiallv uponline 5.,-5 We-"tar pla upon theline'9.9 of y y 'Fig. 10 is asimilar sectionsubstantially upon l'1ne"10-10 of Fig. 1,,and looking .ifj'not always,much Fiq. 3 is atransverse section substantially of Fig. 1. J view of atwo ee battery of a slightly different construction and also showing aslightly different method of connecting the conductors for supplyingbattery, 5

Fig. 9-is avertical section substantially Fig.1.

from the rightof Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is a detailed plan View of one of theplates, and

Fig. 12 is a transverse section thereof substantially upon line 12-12'otFig. 11.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5, numeral 15 indicates the jar or container forthe cell which may be of any suitablematerial for the purpose such asglass. hard rubber or the like. As shown in this type of celltheopposite sidewalls, indicated at 16, are pro vided with rerticallyextending grooves 17 in which are fitted vertically extending posts orconductors 18 which rest at their ower ends on the bottom of thecontainer. To each post are connected a plurality of s acedrelatively'thin plates 19 which, in tie present instance, aresubstantially horizontally arranged, as shown, and extend toward thecenter and transversely of the container.

Between the posts 18 are other posts 20 and 21. the posts 20 beinggrooved to receive the posts 21 andcach one of these posts are connectedto a. plurality of spaced plates 19 the same as are the posts 18. Thelower ends of the posts 20 and 21 also rest upon the bottom of thecontainer. The plates 19 connected to these posts extend in oppositedirections and are interleaved with the plates connected with theopposed posts as indicated, the adjacent plates. however, beingseparated by porous separating plates 22 which mav be of wood or othersuitable material.. These separators are' 'of somewhat greater lengththan the plates 19 so wardly through suitable openings in the coverplate 23 to provide bindin posts 24 and 25 adapted-tor connection withthe condoctors or bus bars. 26 notedthat t e-posts, Wand-2i are both ex;tended upwardly 9 term connection 1 with the busbar so th there will bea goodelec- -ire? h n as 1,,

and '27. It will be.

struction, but I prefer to recess one r the plates to this post.

negative plates are In the multiple unit cell shown I have illustrated't-wclve loealiy d units each unit .being a complete elec rical entityin itself consisting of positive and negative elements with conductorsconnecting the positive elements and conductors connecting the negativeelements, and each element. comprises a relatively thin small plate 19which holds the active material. lheseplates are preterably providedwith elongated slots or openings 28 which are tilled with the activematerial. these slots or openings extending through the plates so thatthe active material is exw sed to the electrolyte on the opposite sidethereof.

As the posts :20 and 21 are nested it will be apparent that in thespecific arrangement shown th cc of theelectrical units are rigidlyconnected together across the cell. although each unit from theelectrical standpoint is complete in "itself and independent of theother units, this being merely a detailed construction which may bevaried if desired. Between the sets of three units 1 have placedperforated separating/plates 2a which are vertically arranged andsupported by any suitable means such as. grooves 30 on the inner wallsof the-container in which the edges of these lates are seated. Theseplates are preterab y of insulatingmaterial and are provided to keepadjacent units from coming in contact with each other. The container isprovided in the bottom thereof with cutaway portions 31 to allow freecirculation of the electrolyte.

It will be apparent from an inspection of Fig. 2 that all of the postsconnected with the positive elements of the respective units areconnected together as are also all the sts connected with the negativeelements of these separate units.

Referring now to Figs. ,ttto 12 inclusive I have shown a slightlydifferent arrang'en'ient of the units and also a slightly differentconstruction thereof. 1 have still further shown two complete;v cellsand the method of connecting the same. In this form each unit comprisesa plurality of spaced positive and negative elements the these elementsbeing substantially horizontally arranged plates 32 of. suitablec'ondncting niatcr-ial and having elongated slots or openitjgs 33 tohold the active material 34. these plates'being also of relatively smallarea and thin as in the first t'orm.

These plates are connected by vertical posts 35 which may be of anysuitable conedge of as shown at 36, through which the facilitate burningof The positive and separated by porous separators 37, the'same. as inthe first form. which may be wood or other suitable material, and theseseparators the plates,

osts 35 may extend to same as the firsttforin,

are of a length to contact at their opposite ends with the posts 35 toprevent either post from coming in contact with the plates of theopposite polarity. Each set of a plurality of positive and negativeplates constitutes a complete electrical entity or unit immersed in theelectrolyte. and each unit is enclosed in a tubular casing 38 which isof insulating material and provided in the walls thereof with apluralityot perforations 39 to facilitate free circulation of theelectrolyte. lower ends of these tubes or casings are preterably closedby a perforated end wall 10 either integral with the tube or securedthereto by any suitable means and against which the lower ends of theposts rest. The plates 32 rest at the corners on the opposite sides ofthe posts against. the inner walls of these tubes, as shown in Fig. 8.and thus these sets of plates are positively mounted The and supported.each unit may be assembled outside the cell and then the suitable numberot units assembled therein as desired to form a completed cell. Thetubes are preferably of such diameter that when placed within thecontainer, indicated at ll, they are in contact forming a fairly closefit so as to sustain each other from movement within the container. Thebottom of the container is also cut away, as shown at 42, to facilitatecirculation of theelec-trolyte.

The posts 35. it desired, may be extended upwardly through openings inthe top 43 to provide binding: posts for connection of the bus bars asin the first form, but I have providcd an improved connection which willdistribute the current substantially uniformly to the various plates andwill also decrease the size of the posts required. For this purpose Ihave shown extending from each binding post. 44 two leads or conductors45 and 46, the short lead to being connected to the post 35 at a point47 located a distance from the upper end thereof substantially equal toone quarter the length of this post, and the long lead 46 at a point 48substantially the same distancetrom the other end of the post or threequarters the length of the post from the top thereof. will be seenthatthe short lead will supply the plates at the upper the longer leadwill supply the'plates at the lower half of the unit and the posts neednot be greater in cross section than is required to carry current to onequarter of the plates;

As shown in Fig. 6,1 have. also extended Thus It,

high unit I ing to, the bus bar so as to get a more uniform distributionof current to the units as well as to the plates. contained in theunits, and also so as to reduce the size of the bus bars." As shown inthe drawing the leads 45. and 46 are extended through the top 43 of thecontainer to form binding posts 44 to which the bus bars 49 areconnected by any suitable meanssuch -as burning, the positive posts ofone row of units being connected to asingle bus bar and the negativeposts of the same row of units being connected to another bus bar.

In Fig. 6, I have shown the posts of four units connected to a singlebus bar. Of

course the numbers may be varied as found necessary or desirable. Incan'ying out this system of connections, by way of example, I conduct toeach bus bar two leads 50 and 51 leading from a common connection 52,the short lead being connected to the bus bar 48 intermediate'the firsttwo units, as shown at 53, and the long lead 51 being connectedintermediate the other two units, as indicated at 54, the units beingindicated by the dotted circles 5'5. Thus it will be seen that each lead53 or 54 conducts current to two units which is equally divided betweenthem, and the connections 53 and 54 are intermediate the ends of the busbar and spaced longitudinally of the same. This same system ofconnection is used throughout the cells. In the present instance I haveshown in each cell three rows of units with four units to each row, andtwo bus bars connected to the binding posts from each row of four, one

.for the positive and one for the negative plates of this row of units.The positive leads from each row are all connected to a common conductor52, and in a battery in which a lurality of cells are used the positivecon uctors 52 are connected to a common conductor 56 from which aconductor 57 leads from a point of: supply or use. Similarly all theleads 5051 of the opposite polarity are connected to a common conductor52, and where a plurality of cells are used in parallel these are inturn connected to a common conductor 58 of which the lead 59 is carriedto a source of supply or point of use. These cells are of course alsoadapted for use in series with each other the same as are ordinarycells, by connecting the positive leads 52 of each cell to the negativeleads 52 of the adjacent cell as will be obvious. i

The casings 38 may be of other shapes if desired, as square orrectangular in cross section, but I prefer the cylindrical casing as itgives better space for electrolyte at the edges of the plates; Thecylindrical tubes also provide increased space for electrolyte betweenthe casings so thatthere will be more equa distribution and bettercirculation of this electrolyte and it will have free access to theactive material carried by plates at all times.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the individualplates for carrying the active material are very simple in constructionand as they are of small area may be made of a thickness relativelygreat with respect to this area and still be comparatively thin so thata large number of these plates may be assembled in a single uniL givinga large exposed surface of active material per unit of weight to theelectrolyte. Also that it is practicable to large- (11v increase thenumber of these plates by ecreasing. their size-and thickness to almostanggxtent and thus'carr definite agree the system of subdivision of theactive material. I have found plates of about one, inch square and onesixteenth inch or less in thickness to be very strong and rug ed andsatisfactory for the purpose a t ough these dimensions may be variedconsiderably if desired. They especially may be made of smaller area andthinner to on foot to a still greater extent the idea of su division ofthe active ma terial. To what extent this may be racticable, however, Ihave not asyet in y determined.

It is, however an engineering necessity in carrying out t is principleof subdivison oil-the active materia to have as many units aspracticable, each unit consisting of very small plates so as to gain asgreat a surface exposure of active material as possible, and as thin aplate as necessary for properly exposing the active material containedin the plates.

Also the large number of units in a multiple unit cell necessitate theproper and practical connecting up of this multiplicity of units so thatthe cell as a whole can take the greatest possible current in charging,and

can give out the greatest possible current required in discharging.Further, the connections involved in this multiple unit cell should besuch that it will be a simple and.

practical matter to connect cell to cell withto an ins tlie:-'extendedsubdivision .of the active ma- I terial made ossible by my multiple unitcell I am ena led to secure an extended exposure of the surface of theactive material per unit of weight to the electrolyte so that l I mayuse increased rates of charge and discharge without increasing thecurrent density per unit f surface above that con sidercd as goodlractice, and am also enabled to secure all the advantages enumerated"hove.

Having thus set forth the invention. what I claim is:

1. A storage battery cell plurality of electrical units in a commonelectrolyte, each unit being a complete elec trical entity consisting ofpositive and negalive plates. and a perforated container enclosing e'achunit.

2. A storage battery cell comprising a plurality of electrical units ina common electrolyte, each unit being a complete electrical entitycomprising a plurality of spaced substantially horizontally arrangedrelatively thin positive and negative plates, porous spacing elementsbetween the plates',upright conducting posts connecting the positive andnegative plates respectively, and a perforated container for therespective units.

A storage battery cell con'iprising a plurality of electrical units in acommon electrolyte, each uliit being a complete electrical entitycomprising a plurality of vertically spaced substantially horizontallyarranged positive and negative plates, porous spacing elements betweensaid plat-es, perfo ratrd, containers for the respective units, uprightconducting elements connected respectively to the positive and negativeplates in the units, and conducting elements connected respectively tothe said positive and negative conducting elements in the cell.

t. In a storage battery cell. a plurality of nature of my com prising aspaced plat-es"adapted to hold active matemat, a conducting postconnecting said plates, and a plurality of conducting leads extendingfrom outside the cell connccted'to said post intermediate the endsthereof and at longitudinally spaced positions to give substantiallyuniform current distribution to the respective plates.

In a. storage battery cell, a plurality of vertically spaced substantialy horizontally arranged plates adapted to hold active material. anupright conducting post connecting said plates. and a plurality ofconducting leads extending from outside the cell connected to said postintermediate the ends thereof and at vertically spaced positlons to igive substantially uniform current distribution to the respectiveplates.

6. A storage battery cell comprising a plurality of electrical units ina commonelectrolyte, each unit being a complete elec trical entitycomprising a plurality of sub- 86. stantial'ly horizontally arrangedvertically spaced positive andnegative plates adapted to hold activematerial. upright conducting posts connecting the positive and "negativeplates respectively, and a plurality of conducting leads connected toeach post intermediate the ends thereof and at vertically spacedpositions to give substantially uniform current distribution to therespective plates. I l a 7. A storage battery cell comprising aplurality of electrical units, each unit being a compete electricalentity consisting of positive and negative plates, conducting post'sconnecting the positive and negative II plates respectively, bus barsconnecting the positive and negative posts. respectively, and aplurality of conducting leads connected to each bus bar intermediate theends thereof and at positions spaced longitudinally of the bars to givea substantially uniform cur. rent distribution to the respective units.

8. A sto'age battery cell comprising a plurality of electrical units,each-unit beii g a compete electrical entity comprising a plurality ofsubstantially horizontally arranged vertically spaced positive andnegative plates to hold active material, "upright conducting postsconnecting the positive and negative plates'respectively, a plurality of99 conducting lGFiClS connected toeach post in termediate the endsthereof and at vertically spaced positions tel give i substantiallyuniform current distribiitio'n to the respective plates. bus barsconnecting the positive and negative leads respectively, and a pluralityof conducting leads connected to each bus bar intermediate the endsthereof and at positions spaced longitudinally of the bars to give asubstantially uniform current. distribution to the respective units.

In testimony whereof I attix my signature.

NEWTON HARRISON.

